The Time-Honored Brand Collaboration Craze: What Did Those Viral 'National Brand CPs' Get Right?
White Rabbit perfume, Liushen floral water cocktail, Palace Museum × time-honored brand gift boxes... Collaborations have become the standard for time-honored brands to break out. This article summarizes three commonalities of high-converting collaborations.
Collaboration is the fastest way for time-honored brands to break out of their niche at low cost, but 'collaborating for the sake of collaborating' often backfires. Looking at the truly viral cases in recent years, there are three commonalities worth learning from.
Commonality 1: Complementary Tones, Not Repetitive Ones
Liushen floral water × cocktail, White Rabbit × perfume—these are all combinations of 'national memory × trendy experience'. Complementarity brings surprise; repetition only leaves a statement.
Commonality 2: Limited Editions Create Scarcity
Successful collaborations are almost always limited editions, using 'unavailability' to amplify 'desire'. Scarcity is a prerequisite for social currency.
Commonality 3: Shareability First
- The packaging itself should be attractive and photogenic
- The naming should be catchy and easy to spread
- The purchase scenario should naturally lead to sharing on WeChat Moments or Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book)
For time-honored brands, collaboration is essentially converting 'national recognition' into 'social topics'. Recognition is the stock, while topics are the increment.
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Sources / Further reading
All content here is original analysis and roundup; data follows official sources such as the MOFCOM time-honored brand list. Please attribute when citing.